Ada Lovelace Day Bringing Women in Technology to the Forefront

Last night on my way home i was thinking about Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace Day is today March 24th and the purpose is to have an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. A couple months ago i signed the pledge, to honor Ada Lovelace and promote women in technology.

So "Who was Ada Lovelance"?
Ada Lovelace was one of the world's first computer programmers, and one of the first people to see computers as more than just a machine for doing sums. She wrote programmes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine, despite the fact that it was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software.

So why does it matter to me that Ada Lovelace was a woman? If the same work had been done by a man would i be just as interested to celebrate his success?

Probably not- they are hundreds and thousands of men who we celebrate for their historical and modern 'accomplishments'- but not a lot of women. Ada Lovelace, is one of the few whose name has become well known, but there are many others who i respect and admire, many who have had a direct impact on me either throughout the years or more recently through the various organizations i work with. Women like Clare Hart and Christine Connors at Dow Jones who affect myself and the company i work for day in and day out in how they help push our company forward by utilizing technology. And then there are all the great women i have met at events like She's Geeky like the woman who runs that conference Kaliya Hamlin who is involved and a leader in so many technology organizations- unselfishly pushing and advocating for what she believes in. There are so many other women that i follow, admire, and am inspired by....hopefully they know who they are.

Ada- i thank you.

See other post coming in from bloggers who made the pledge. (via google blogs)

Ada Lovelace|Flickr|Nefi
Ada Lovelace|Lego|Flickr|Dunechaser